Geology Of Ozizza And Environs, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

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ABSTRACT

Cretaceous sediments outcropped extensively in the Afikpo sedimentary basins. Detailed geological mapping of Ozizza and environs was undertaken in order to give a detail descriptions of the lithological features, stratigraphic relationships and contacts, sedimentary structures, and their paleontological contents. Sieve analysis, hydrological and palynological analyses of selected outcrop samples were carried out in order to reconstruct the depositional history of the sediments in the area and their provenance, assess the age of sediments and establish their paleoenvironments of deposition, and evaluate the hydrocarbon source rock potential and the degree of thermal maturation. Two main lithological units were encountered, which include sandstone and shale. Result from thesieve analysis indicates that the sandstones in the study areawere mostly deposited in a beach and fluvial settings. Physicochemical results from heavy metals analysis indicated significant concentration of sodium (Na) in the water samples. Results from the palynological investigation revealed a Late Campanian to Earliest Maastrichtian for the sediments, with the following index sporomorphs assemblage:Cingulatisporites ornatus, Zlivisporis blanensis, Distaverrusporites simplex, Longapertites marginatus, Constructipollenites ineffectus, Monocolpites marginatus, Echitriporites trianguliformis,, Buttinia andreevi, and Retidiporites magdalenensis. Environmentally significant palynomorphs indicated that the sediments in the study area were depositedin a marginal marine/ nearshore brackishwater environments of deposition, with minor marine influence. Kerogen analysis shows that all the sediments were mostly dominated by phytoclasts followed by opaque debris and AOM, giving rise to mostly type III kerogen, which are generally immature but have potential to generate gas.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE                                                                                                             i

APPROVAL PAGE                                                                                                   ii

DEDICATION                                                                                                           iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS                                                                                       iv

ABSTRACT                                                                                                               v

TABLE OF CONTENTS                                                                   vi

LIST OF FIGURES                                                                                                  vii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION                                                                    13

1.1 LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY                                                                13

1.2 GEOGRAPHY                                                                                                     14

1.2.1 CLIMATE                                                                                                         15

1.2.2 VEGETATION                                                                                                 17

1.2.3 THE PEOPLE                                                                                                   19

1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW                                                                                                19

1.4 SCOPE OF WORK AND OBJECTIVES OF PRESENT STUDY                   20

1.5 STUDY METHODOLOGY                                                                                21

1.5.1 PRELIMINARY STUDIES                                                                             22

1.5.2 FIELD STUDIES                                                                                              22

1.5.3 LABORATORY ANALYSES                                                                         22

CHAPTER TWO: GENERAL GEOLOGIC SETTING                                                24

2.1 GEOMORPHOLOGY                                                                                         26

2.1.1 TOPOGRAPHY                                                                                                            27

2.1.2 DRAINAGE                                                                                                     29

2.2 REGIONAL GEOLOGIC SETTING                                                                 32

2.2.1 TECTONIC SETTING                                                                                     33

2.2.2 STRATIGRAPHIC SETTING                                                                         34

2.2.3 EVOLUTION OF THE BENUE TROUGH                                                    34

CHAPTER THREE: LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY                                                 35

3.1 DESCRIPTION OF STRATIGRAPHIC SECTIONS  

3.1.1 NDIBE BEACH SECTION                                                                             36

3.1.2 EHUGBO TECHNICAL COLLEGE SECTION                                            38       

3.1.3 SCOTT SPRING NDIBE SECTION                                                               39

3.1.4 UZOEZEALI SECTION                                                                                  41

3.1.5 NNEMOGWU HILL SITE                                                      42

 3.1.6 Mcgregor section                                                          43

3.1.7 AMURO/MGBOM SECONDARY SCHOOL SECTION                             44                                           

CHAPTER FOUR: LABORATORY ANALYSES                                             41

 

4.1 SIEVE ANALYSIS                                                                                            41                                                                                                                                                                               

4.1.1 METHODOLOGY                                                                                           70                                                                               

4.1.2 RESULTS                                                                                                          71

 

4.2 HYDROGEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS                                                             72                                                                                           

4.2.1 METHODOLOGY                                                                                           73                                           

4.2.1 RESULTS                                                                                                          73                                                                                                                                                                   

4.2.2 PALYNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS                                                                 76                                                                                           

4.3 METHODOLOGY                                                                                              79

 

4.3.1 RESULTS

 

4.3.2 KEROGEN ANALYSIS                                                                                79                                                                                           

4.4 METHODOLOGY                                                                                              80                                                                               

4.4.1 RESULTS                                                                                                          82                                                                                                                                           

CHAPTER FIVE: INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

5.1 SIEVE INTERPRETATION                                                                               87                                           

5.1.1 HYDROGEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION                                                          89                                                                               

5.2 PALYNOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION                                                        89

                                                           

5.2.1 AGE ASSESSMENT/ CORRELATION                                                         90                                                                   

5.2.2 PALEOENVIRONMENTS OF DEPOSITION                                              91                               

CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS                                        92                                           

REFERENCES                                                                                                          93                                                                                                                                                                               

APPENDIX

 

CHAPTER ONE:

INTRODUCTION

 

1.1   LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY

The study area is located along Afikpo-Okigwe axis and bounded by latitudes 5° 51IN and 6°03IN and longitudes 007º51IE and 8° 06I E (Fig. 1), and with an area extent of about 74 sqkm (Fig. 1). The study area is bounded on the north by Afikpo, on the south by Eberiba and on the west by Amasiri town.It covers area such as, Anofia Nkanu, Amangbala and Ebom in Ebonyi State, South Eastern Nigeria. Access to the area is through the roughly east-west Afikpo-Okigwe road, which connects the Okposi-Amaseri-Amoso road at Amasiri. On the outskirts of Afikpo town, this road connects with the Northbound Abakaliki road passing through Akpoha and Abomege. The eastern side of the study area is accessible through the Abomege-Ugep road, which passes through the Cross River at Itigidi to Ugep and Calabar towards the southern part of the study area. Other minor roads link the smaller interior villages from these major roads.  The major roads are tarred while the minor roads are untarred and may not be accessible during the rainy season.    

1.2 GEOGRAPHY

1.2.1 CLIMATE

The study area experiences two seasons, the rainy and dry seasons. There is however, a short break of one to three times, usually referred to as “August break”. The hottest months are usually between October and March.

Rainfall in this area is evenly distributed and is high, about 190 cm per annum, and 95 % of this takes place between the months of April and October (Ibe and Okeke, 1974). The rate of evaporation from the open surface water as estimated by Mirenenko (1966) is 2cm per annum.

 

Fig. 1: Location and accessibility map showing the drainage system of study area.

The mapped area falls within the zone of 27o-30o of annual temperature. The climate of this area is classified as a tropical wet and dry savannah

 

 

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